International news

U.S. senators push for more open trade with Russia

TomBarkley

WASHINGTON--A bipartisan group of senators introduced legislation Tuesday to lift trade restrictions on Russia, with the aim of passing the bill along with measures to protect human rights in the country before it joins the World Trade Organization as expected this summer.

The bill would approve permanent, normal trade relations with Russia by the August recess, a top trade priority for the Obama administration.

But Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D., Mont.) also vowed to incorporate provisions being championed by an increasing number of lawmakers on both sides to punish Russian officials for any human-rights violations.

Administration officials have called for Congress to pass the trade bill separately from any human-rights legislation, a plan that has also been supported by Rep. Dave Camp (R., Mich.), chairman of the House Ways and Means Committee, which overseas trade issues.

Mr. Baucus said that once the Senate passes the bill, he would work with the House to ensure any final version of the legislation includes the full text of the so-called "Magnitsky" bill, named after a lawyer who died in a Russian prison in 2009 after accusing government officials of fraud.

"This is an opportunity to double our exports to Russia and create thousands of jobs across every sector of the U.S. economy, all at no cost to the U.S. whatsoever," said Baucus in a statement.

Foreign Relations Committee Chairman John Kerry (D, Mass.), who unveiled the legislation along with Mr. Baucus, Sen. John McCain (R, Ariz.) and Sen. John Thune (R, S.D.) said the legislation will "make real progress on the human rights and democratic reform agenda as well."

McCain stressed the trade bill must be accompanied by the human-rights legislation.

The legislation comes on the same day that a leading business group launched a lobbying and public-relations blitz to push for approval of permanent, normal trade relations with Russia by the August recess.

John Engler, president of the Business Roundtable, a group of executives from multinational firms, said the trade bill's passage appears increasingly achievable despite the onset of the U.S. elections and growing tensions with Russia over human rights and foreign policy.

"This could go quite quickly," Mr. Engler told reporters during an event announcing the lobbying campaign. "On the core issue, there is not fierce opposition, and there is not a political divide."

William Lane, Caterpillar Inc.'s (CAT) Washington director, also expressed confidence that the trade bill could be passed by the recess, but said he expected the human-rights legislation to be passed separately.

To establish permanent, normal trade relations with Russia, Congress has to repeal Jackson-Vanik, a 1974 measure that prevents the U.S. from granting most-favored-nation status to countries that restrict emigration.

Those restrictions have been waived on a yearly basis, but Russian officials have said they must be repealed for the U.S. to receive the same benefits as other countries once it joins the WTO.

Russian officials have also warned of retaliation if any legislation imposes new human-rights measures in place of Jackson-Vanik.

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